Chapter Two: Newborn

At about noon on the third day of his burning, I felt him gasp. He started to slowly move his fingers and his heart rate sped up. I knew it was ending, and I knew this would be the worst pain yet. If he had become numb at all to anything I had put him through, this would be worse than that. He lifted his arms once the flames had left them, and put them over his heart. I moved up and set him in my lap, holding him close. I laid my head on his hands, his now cold hands. He grabbed at my head, caressing me there. He tried biting me, trying to release some of the pain, and I lifted a hand to his mouth so he could bite down on it. I loved him, and I was eager for his pain to end.

Thump Thump thump thump, his heart was now beating faster than a train, and getting even faster each second. It seemed like it was trying to get a lifetime of beats in; it knew it only had seconds more. I kissed his chest gently, and felt him tangle his hands in my hair. How on earth could this guy be making me go so crazy for him? How could he be this in control of his emotions?

Wait a second, he wasn't. As his heart reached the fastest I am sure it has ever been, he pushed me off of him angrily. I crashed into the wall at the other end of the room, making a human sized hole in the wood. He was strong, that much I could tell. And he was almost reborn. I heard his heart start to strain; it stopped for a few seconds, then started back up, and then stopped and started again. The venom was working. He screamed out, the worst scream I have ever heard. It was like a man who had his chest ripped open and someone set fire to his heart, and only his heart; and managed to stay alive for it. He looked right at me, his eyes full of fury and wonder, and understanding. He knew what he had become, and knew that I was one too. He knew why I changed him, though how he knew I did not know. I loved him so much, and I felt myself fill with compassion for the man lying there. His heart beat once, twice, then stopped. He laid on the couch, panting, his eyes closed.

I slowly walked over to him, deliberately making my steps loud so he would know I was approaching. I looked at him, so beautiful. More beautiful than before.

"Major Whitlock?" I whispered, very quietly, so only he could hear. "Are you okay now?"

His eyes opened and he stared at me. They were a deep red, a colour that induced fear in the hearts of humans. He moved his hands, and in less than a second was halfway across the room from me. He looked all around him, and sat on the ground, with his face in his hands.

"I know, it is a bit overwhelming, isn't it? It gets so much better though, I promise. Are you thirsty? We can hunt. I won't ever hurt you again, I promise that too. I love you, Major Whitlock." I walked over to him, sitting on the floor beside him and putting my arm on his shoulders. He sighed, breathed in, and grabbed at his throat.

"It burns." He said. I just nodded and watched him sniff at the air more. "Is that, blood? It smells so good." He stood and turned, searching for the source. I followed him wordlessly around the house, and when he jumped out a window I copied. I was letting him hunt on instinct, and it was working.

We came to a bar, where a few confederate soldiers had stopped for a drink. He looked at me, scared, and I held out my hand for his and led him around the back.

"The drunk ones don't taste the greatest, but it dulls that burn you feel in your throat. It makes you strong, too." I stood on top of a bar that framed stairs leading into the basement storage. "If you don't want to kill them, I understand. You might have known some of them. But it will help you"

"I got them." He mimicked me, standing on the bar as well. We stood and waited, and I told him stories. I told him what he was, though he had guessed that already. I told him what I did, and I told him about my friends and family. We traded histories, and when the bartender came outside, he pounced without thinking about it. I forgot how thirsty he would be when he woke.

He was sloppy too, standing up with a blood stained shirt. Some of it was his, but he had it all down his front and in his hair. I laughed, and walked over to him.

"Lets hide him, then I will help you with that" I showed him how to rake your fingers in the side, to make it look like an animal attack. I showed him where to put the bodies; in the middle of an ally way, and I showed him the proper technique to drink so he didn't make such a mess.

"I feel that, Maria."

"Feel what?"

"That lust you have to come here and lick the blood off my lips" He moved closer to me, and whispered "So come and get it"